05/13/12 - 05/20/12

We took a two hour boat ride to an elephant park in Chiang Rai. Apparently these boats we took (which look like a canoe with a motor on it and fit six people in them), are a very common way to travel in Thailand. Anyway, it was a beautiful ride with green hills/mountains everywhere around us. We stopped off at the elephant sanctuary place which was right off the water and I got to ride one of the elephants! We sat in a carriage thing on its back and we had someone that rode at the head of the elephant to steer (I guess). They walked the elephant into the river a little bit and then down a main road in their village. So fun. And I can now check “elephant riding in Thailand” off my “bucket list”. On the boat ride back, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant and we decided that it was the coolest place a person could say they’ve had Pad Thai. We also stopped at a village off the side of the river. I guess our country director wanted to talk to someone there and wanted us to get a feel for the culture. I’m not sure if we’ll go back for a project or not though. It’d be neat if we did.

Monday (Back to Work!)

We visited schools in the area. There were about six schools that we went to and we will be teaching English at these schools.

The first school was the one that we help at on Saturday. It was fun because we got to see the kindergarten children play on the playground that we cleaned up and painted. When then got to see the kids line up outside for the rising of their flag and for the national anthem. I loved watching it. The kids are so cute. Interesting cultural thing… At this public school (along with the others we visited), the children were expected to where a uniform along with the boys having the same haircut and the girls having the same haircut. The main teachers would also where uniforms and I think they were basically seem as respected public officials.

The second school we visited was really impressive to me. The principle toured us around the campus. Beyond giving the children their regular education and English education, the school also focused on instructing the kids in self-reliance and learning many trades. The grounds behind the school are used for teaching the kids how to fish and farm.

At another school, we talked with a gentleman about a project we’d do for them aside from teaching English. We are going to build an outdoor sink for the kids to use because it is something they really need. We may also post pictures next to it teaching hand washing practices. After the learning about the school and about this project, we had some time and got to play soccer with a bunch of kids. It was so much fun. Although, the thing about playing soccer in the middle of the day in Thailand is that you are bound to get a little warm. I was drenched in sweat. Of course, I was sweaty at the first school we visited at 9am, but we just get used to the sweatiness being an all-day/regular routine.

One of the other schools we visited was so much fun too because we got to interact with the kids a bit; who were completely adorable. We played rock paper scissors with them and counted to ten together. We also took pictures because they love it when we show them to them on the digital camera screen. When it came time to leave though, I was unsure that I’d make it out of there without losing a limb. There were a few of us that the kids grabbed and tried to hold hostage at in their classroom.

Tuesday

We went again to the last school that I wrote about from our Monday visits. We cleaned up and painted their playground as well. We then got to play with the kids for quite a while again. There is a little girl named Jamelee that I met on Monday and I think I clicked with really well (Which is so funny because we were only able to communicate two phrases to each other and then just played). We played again today and after some struggle we started to teach each other Thai and English words. We taught each

other to say (at least, I think) “shirt”, “eye”, “mouth”, “ear”, “nose”. It was really fun. Then I started to play another game with Jamelee and another little girl. I would squeeze their hands and got them to say “hand” and then got them to say “run!” and we’d run down the field and then say “walk” and then walk in big steps and then stop and do it all over again.

 Wednesday

Today was kind of cool. A small group of us went to a village that was probably forty minutes away from our town where they actually spoke their own language other than Thai.  They are trying to implement their own kind of bank system in the village. They want to teach people basic principles of keeping records of business/financial transactions and receipts. It was pretty cool. I guess they wanted our small group (we’re students that are studying business/finance in some way) to be involved with helping to correctly implement these financial practices. We’ll be working with the village throughout the summer on the project too. Our group got to go to a village meeting about the project which I thought was a really cool learning experience. Our small group did a mini skit during the meeting and our translator translated. That was fun. I think they were mildly entertained.

I personally felt like I gained a few things from the experience…

(Ignore me if I get preachy or fluffy in my writting! :) )

One - it was really interesting to see people’s personalities and even pick out their roles in the village even though we didn’t know a word they were saying.

Second - was that I felt had a few things reconfirmed to me. In the last year, I feel as if I have almost gained a greater testimony of education. In the church, we send away missionaries to spread the gospel around the world. They gain a testimony of the gospel, spread it to other people and then see miracles as the blessings of the spirit affect their lives. I love and envy anyone who has had the experience of spreading the gospel as a full time missionary. I feel as though there is another truth that needs to be spread around the world as well. That is of education. Light, truth and inspiration are also the fruits that come from basic education. The spirit and God’s love work through these endeavors as well.

As we drove over to the village, for some reason my thoughts went toward the idea that we can be inspired to improve and develop our circumstances and the lives of those around us. Often when we help other people, we want them to be empowered to help themselves also. I feel that innovation and development really come after we have had a chance to open and stretch our minds in the first place. And I feel that this comes after a person is exposed to education, new ideas, and has had opportunities to be creative. It seems that the areas of the world that have these gifts available to their people and children are the areas that are most developed and civilized.

As we attended the meeting with the village, I thought of ways that we could involve more of the people who were there and help them to better understand how the accounting practices actually worked. However, as I talked to our interpreter, he explained to me that most of the people in the village did not know how to read or write. Most of the village came to this meeting; however only a select few would actually make their banking plans function. It further instilled in me about how important basic education is. I can’t fully understand a life without learning new things about the world around us; without creating and developing ideas; and even without reading and writing (even though those used to be my two least favorite things!).

On Wednesday night I got really sick… Just to prep this mini story, I will be using the phase “time in the bathroom” to describe some experiences and I’ll let you figure out what that means.
So Wednesday night was fun at first. We went to a night market down the road… Just fyi, I grabbed some souvenirs for Mom Dad and siblings… I’m really excited about them. I hope you like them J but THEN… We get home and I’ve started to feel nauseous… I think I had one too many items of junk food that day… So anyway, I thought I’d try to sleep it out, but woke up an hour later and “had to spend some time in the bathroom”. Felt a lot better, but not 100 percent better. Stayed up for a bit, but went back to bed at 1am. Couldn’t sleep. Eventually got back up at 4am “to spend some time in the bathroom” and felt a lot better again… I felt like I lost every ounce of Thai food and water that was in my system, but it felt like I got all the yuckies out!

…Then I stayed up for a while and suddenly it was 6:30am on Thursday. I took a thirty minute nap, and thought I’d take it easy that day, but felt pretty good and decided to go to a meeting that some of the group was attending. Once we got there though, I realized that I couldn’t stand or even sit up in a fairly air conditioned room without getting dizzy and blacking out and feeling nauseous. I think my body was just dealing with my loss of nutrients and water. With this, some people brought me home and without meaning to I slept until dinner.

Friday

The team went to build a sink with one of the schools we were working with. I ended up staying home and working on my own project for a different school. I was a bit dizzy that day, but took it easy and felt really well by the end of the day.